"But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through [Greek, dia, Strong's #1223] Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in [Greek, instrumental en -- through, by means of, Strong's #1722] Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation." -- 2 Corinthians 5:19, World English Bible translation
The thought many would like for us to see in this verse is that God was in Christ, and being in Christ makes Christ God Almighty. This, of course, is not what the verse is saying. The Greek word *en* -- translated "in" -- has many variations of meaning, including "through", "by" [often with the meaning as "by means of", "in" [still often with the meaning as an instrument being used]. From the context of 2 Corinthians 5:17 we understand what this word is saying. God -- by means of Christ -- was reconciling the world to himself.
https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/greek/1722.html
https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/greek/1722.html
Yes, God was in Christ, that is, by means of Christ, reconciling the world to himself. That is all that is says. The idea that this is saying that Jesus was God Almighty in a human form is a thought that has to be read into what Paul was saying.
Some translations make this plainer to see:
A ministry whose message is that God, through Christ, was reconciling the world to himself, not debiting their sins against them, and has given us the story of this reconciliation to tell.-- Barclay Translation.
For through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us. -- International Standard Version.
Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. -- Good News Translation
A ministry whose message is that God, through Christ, was reconciling the world to himself, not debiting their sins against them, and has given us the story of this reconciliation to tell.-- Barclay Translation.
For through the Messiah, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them. He has committed his message of reconciliation to us. -- International Standard Version.
Our message is that God was making all human beings his friends through Christ. God did not keep an account of their sins, and he has given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends. -- Good News Translation
Some translations use English syntax to show that God was using Jesus as the means of reconciliation:
That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. -- 2 Corinthians 5:19, New Revised Standard Version
That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. -- Holman Christian Standard Bible translation
That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation --Revised Standard Version
hws hoti theos een en christw kosmon katallasswn
5613_5 3754 2316 1511_3 1722 5547 2889 2644
heautw mee logizomenos autois ta paraptwmata
TO HIMSELF, NOT RECKONING TO THEM THE FALLS BESIDE
1438 3361 3049 0846_93 3588 3900
autwn kai themenos en heemin ton logon tees
OF THEM, AND HAVING PUT IN US THE WORD OF THE
0846_92 2532 5087 1722 1473_9 3588 3056 3588
katallagees
RECONCILIATION.
2643
Westcott & Hort Interlinear, as obtained from the Bible Students Library DVD
In other words, God was using Christ as the instrument to restore his relationship with humanity. This agrees with the similar expressions in Romans 3:24: "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in [by means of] Christ Jesus." Romans 6:11: "Thus also consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in [by means of] Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in [by means of] Christ Jesus our Lord."
Nevertheless, the idea that God is in Christ is expressed elsewhere in the scriptures. Jesus says: "But if I do them, though you don't believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." (John 10:38) And again he says: "Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?" "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me." (John 14:10,11) Does this mean that Jesus is God Almighty? Hardly. Of course our trinitarian neighbors may shrug at the implication that this means that Jesus is the Father and that the Father is Jesus. Yet if the expression as it is used in 2 Corinthians 5:19 means that Jesus is God because, as it reads in some translations, Paul states: "God in Christ", then, if we are consistent in such reasoning, we would reason from these scriptures that Jesus is the Father, since the Father is in him, and he is in the Father. (Our oneness neighbors believe that Jesus is his Father; however, our trinitarian neighbors believe that Jesus is not his Father) Of course, these scriptures are not saying that Jesus is his father, nor do they say that Jesus is his God. (Ephesians 1:3) Actually, it would take some imagination beyond what is written in order to read into the Scriptures that Jesus is God Almighty.
Jesus himself gives us a hint as to what he means, when he tells his disciples: "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." (John 14:20) Here Jesus likens his relationship to his Father to his relationship to his disciples. Thus, if his being in his Father and/or his Father being in him means that Jesus is God, then Jesus' being in his disciples and his disciples' being in him, would make the disciples to be Jesus himself, and also God Almighty, since, according to trinitarian and oneness philosophies, Jesus is God Almighty. Of course, none of these scriptures mean that Jesus is God Almighty, but it does show a closeness, a harmony between God and Jesus, and between Jesus and his disciples.
Someone has responded: Jesus doesn't say that he is in his disciples and that his disciples are him in the same manner that he is in Father and that the Father is in him. Let us read further. In John 17:21, we read of Jesus praying to his God (John 17:1,3), that his disciples "may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us." Here it is plainly stated that the two unions are the same kind of union.
It is to the disciples as individuals that Jesus said: "Remain in me and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me." (John 15:4) And also he says: "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done to you." (John 15:7) These words are not speaking of Christ as being in his disciples collectively, but as individuals. There is something that we can learn from this: that we need to "remain" in Christ, and there is the possibility that the one who is in Christ may not "remain" therein.
We read in Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." Does the believer's being "in Christ Jesus" mean that the believer is Christ Jesus? If Jesus is God because God is in Jesus, then this would make Jesus God, thus to be in Christ Jesus, would mean being in God, and thus the believer would be God. The truth is that for Jesus is in a Christian, and for God to be in Christian, does not mean that the Christian is God Almighty, nor does God's being in Christ mean that Jesus is God Almighty.
Another relevant scripture is Romans 8:9: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn't have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his." Here we see that it is necessary for the spirit of God to dwell, live, in the believer if he is to walk by the spirit. Some see into this verse trinity because it speaks of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. More than likely, however, the spirit of Christ is being used in a different sense than that of the spirit of God. Of course, God gave his spirit to Jesus without measure, and then he sent his spirit through Jesus to the church. (John 14:26; 15:26; Acts 2:33) Thus, since Jesus is given charge of the holy spirit, it is God's spirit, but it is also the spirit of Christ. This can be likened to fact that Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah (1 Chronicles 29:23) and yet Solomon sat on the throne of David. (1 Kings 2:12,24) And yet it is also Solomon's throne. (1 Kings 1:37,47) All three statements are true relatively. Likewise, the spirit of God, being given to Jesus, could also be referred to as the spirit of Christ.
Nevertheless, one's having the spirit of Christ probably means having the same disposition as Christ. See our discussion on Romans 8:9.
Romans 8:11 reads: "If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness." Again, reference is made of Christ being in the believer, the same reasoning applies as given for Romans 8:1.
While we do not believe that 2 Corinthians 5:19 is speaking of exactly the same thing as these other verses we have just examined, even if it should be assumed to be that it is, these other verses show that it would not mean that Jesus is his God any more than when the scriptures say that the believers are "in Christ" means that Jesus himself *is* every member of the church, or the scriptures that refer to believers as being "in God" would make believers God Almighty. -- Romans 8:1; 16:3,7,10; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 2 Corinthians 2:4; 5:17; 12:2; Galatians 1:22; 3:28; Ephesians 2:10.\
God resides in, dwells in Jesus and his church, by means of his holy spirit. -- John 10:38; 14:10,20; 17:11,21; Romans 8:9,10,11; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 11:10; 13:5; Ephesians 3:17; 4:6,15; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 1 John 3:24; 4:12,13; 2 John 1:9; 4:6.
None of this means that Jesus is Jehovah, or that the church is Jehovah, or that the church is Jesus, etc. Thus there is nothing in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that would lead us to believe that Jesus is Jehovah, or that Jesus, while in the days of his flesh (Hebrews 5:7), was God Almighty in human form.
Some quotes from various authors about 2 Corinthians 5:19 (we do not necessarily agree with all conclusions given by the authors):
That God was by Christ ( ἐν Χριστῷ en Christō), by means of Christ; by the agency, or mediatorship of Christ. Or it may mean that God was united to Christ, and manifested himself by him. So Doddridge interprets it. Christ was the mediator by means of whom God designed to accomplish the great work of reconciliation.-- Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:4". "Barnes' Notes on the New Testament". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/2-corinthians-5.html. 1870.
The English Authorized Version puts a comma at Christ: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself." It is safe to say that "God was in Christ" is a sentence which neither St. Paul nor any other New Testament writer could have conceived; the "was" and the "reconciling" must be taken together, and "in Christ" is practically equivalent to "through Christ" in the previous verse-God was by means of Christ reconciling the world to Himself.-- Nicoll, William R. "Commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:19". "Expositor's Bible Commentary"
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/teb/2-corinthians-5.html.
The secondary use, if intended at all, would mean "in union with": "God was, in union with Christ, reconciling the world to Himself." Whenever this little word "in" comes up, one must consider its application, not assuming we know what it means. -- John W. Ritenbaugh, Forerunner Commentary for 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, as found at:
https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/28897/eVerseID/28897
Addendum: Regarding the idea that God's being in Christ means that Jesus is God:
John 17:21
That they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
Ephesians 4:6
One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.
1 John 3:24
He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.
1 John 4:12
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
If one is consistent, if God's being in Christ means that Jesus is God, then one should also believe that all of the followers of Jesus, who have God “in” them, makes all the followers of Jesus to be God and therefore that God is thousands of persons. In reality, the fact the God and Father of Jesus is in Jesus, and in his followers, does not at all make either Jesus or the followers of Jesus to be the Most High Jehovah.
However, the power and authority given to Jesus do indeed make Jesus “god” – mighty – to man, but this usage of the word “god” does not mean that the Most High has made Jesus into the Most High. Additionally, Jesus represents to mankind the righteous qualities of the Most High; this does not mean that Jesus was made into the Most High to do so.
See:
Jesus is Not Jehovah
and
The Hebraic Usage of the Titles for God
See:
Jesus is Not Jehovah
and
The Hebraic Usage of the Titles for God
Regarding the idea that Jesus is a dual person, both God and man:
Nowhere in the Bible do we find any thought that Jesus, while in the days of his flesh (Hebrews 5:7), was also the Most High God. Such has to be imagined, assumed, added to, and read into any scripture that is presented to allegedly support what is being imagined and assumed.
By Ronald R. Day, Sr.
See the page on “dual natures”.
Related Books
When Jesus Became God -- Gives a lot of historical background.
Please note that we do not necessarily agree with all that is stated in these books.
When Jesus Became God -- Gives a lot of historical background.
The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture - The Effect of Early Christological Controversies
on the Text of the New Testament
Jesus Was Not a Trinitarianon the Text of the New Testament
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